US Navy foresees an uncrewed future for its surface and underwater fleet
The service has been conducting various procurement and development efforts to integrate unmanned surface and underwater vehicles into its inventory.
The International Aerial Robotics Competition (IARC) began in 1991 on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology and is the longest running university-based robotics competition in the world.
Since 1991, collegiate teams with the backing of industry and government have fielded autonomous flying robots in an attempt to perform missions that required robotic behaviors never before exhibited in a flying machine. The AUVSI International Aerial Robotics Competition has been in existence for 18 years and is now entering its 19th year with a new mission.
The primary goal of the competition has been to provide a reason for the state-of-the art in aerial robotics to move forward. Challenges set before the international collegiate community have been geared to produce advances in the state-of-the-art at an evermore aggressive pace. As of 2006 four missions had been proposed. Each of them involved fully autonomous robotic behavior that was undemonstrated at the time and impossible for any robotic system fielded anywhere in the world, even by the most sophisticated military robots belonging to the super powers.
In July of 2008, the 4th Mission of the Competition was completed at the U.S. Army's Ft. Benning McKenna MOUT site in Columbus Georgia, USA. $80,000 in prize money was awarded. The 4th Mission of the IARC required collegiate teams to create fully autonomous flying robots capable of negotiating urban situations from a significant stand-off distance of 3km. Each aerial robot had to independently find and enter a designated building in order to locate and relay specific target information back to its launch point without any human intervention. The new 5th Mission picks up where the 4th Mission left off by demonstrating the fully autonomous aerial robotic behaviors necessary to rapidly negotiate the confined internal spaces of a structure once it has been penetrated by an air vehicle.
University teams interested in attempting this currently 'undemonstrated' challenge are requested to view the official IARC web site at: http://iarc.angel-strike.com/ and in particular the Official Rules at: http://iarc.angel-strike.com/IARC_5th_Mission_Rules.pdf . An application for entry is linked to these sites along with instructions about how to submit an application to IARC creator and organizer, Prof. Robert C. Michelson (a past President of the AUVSI).
The service has been conducting various procurement and development efforts to integrate unmanned surface and underwater vehicles into its inventory.
Tekever has manufactured the AR3, AR4 and AR5 UAS with all systems sharing common electronics and software architecture, which has enabled the reuse of ground segment elements within the new ARX UAS.
As the dynamics of aerial combat rapidly evolve, Chinese scientists have engineered a sophisticated air separation drone model that can fragment into up to six drones, each capable of executing distinct battlefield roles and challenging the efficacy of current anti-drone defences such as the UK’s Dragonfire laser system.
Advancements in air defence technologies have begun to reshape aerial combat dynamics in the Middle East, as illustrated by recent events involving the Israeli Air Force and Hezbollah.
Both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war have been using UAS for effective low-cost attacks, as well as impactful web and social media footage. Thousands more have now been committed to Ukrainian forces.
The US Army has intentions to develop light, medium and heavy variants of the Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) as part of the branche’s Next Generation Combat Vehicle family.